


Show Me What I'm Really Living For

by Mount_Seleya



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Betaed, Bittersweet Ending, Eloping, F/M, Gift Fic, POV Lyanna Stark, Tourney at Harrenhal, asoiafrarepairs Secret Santa, bookverse, mention of child death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 16:04:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17083424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mount_Seleya/pseuds/Mount_Seleya
Summary: Lyanna Stark elopes with Jaime Lannister at Harrenhal. But her story is never a simple one.





	Show Me What I'm Really Living For

**Author's Note:**

  * For [salazarastark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/salazarastark/gifts).



> Written for [salazarastark](https://salazarastark.tumblr.com/) for the [Asoiafrarepairs Secret Santa](https://asoiafrarepairs.tumblr.com/post/180298543922/asoiafrarepairs-secret-santa-is-happening-hey). I had a lot of fun writing this tragically underrated pairing. I apologize for the cliché Tourney at Harrenhal setting, but I wanted to finish something on time despite multiple factors working against me, and this is the only way to bring Jaime and Lyanna together my brain could come up with on short notice.
> 
> Thanks to [emaiyl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emaiyl/pseuds/Emaiyl) for the beta read. Title from "Motel" by Meg Myers.

The prince's voice soared. His fingers danced across his harp, loosing silver, shining notes. Lyanna's heart shook. Tears shuddered free from her eyes. Carved hot trails down her cheeks. It was weak, and stupid, and girlish. But the world had melted away like summer snow, and the song was rising higher and higher, weaving through the hall.  
  
Gone was the steady rumble of the downpour outside. The cavernous room with its hundred blazing hearths. There was nothing now but the glory of Rhaegar's song, and the pure, sweet joy swelling within Lyanna's breast.  
  
Small fingers seized Lyanna's wrist. She jerked her head around. Benjen was laughing at her. The spell shattered. Shame and fury flooded her chest. Her cheeks flamed. The tears stung. _Idiot_ , she seethed, snatching her cup.  
  
Benjen shouted as wine sloshed over his head. He blinked, stunned, spluttering. Red rills leaked down his white face. He was the image of a weirwood. A tiny, pleased smile curled Lyanna's mouth, and she rose. Swept from the table.  
  
Lyanna was waylaid when she was nearly out of the hall. "Dance with me, she-wolf," said a boy, warm with challenge. He caught her hands and spun her to meet his summer-green eyes. "You've shown your teeth. _I like that_."  
  
"Hold your tongue if you don't wish to know a wolf's bite, my lord," Lyanna returned drolly.  
  
" _Ser_ ," the boy corrected. His lips knifed into a cocky grin. "Knighted by Arthur Dayne himself for valour in the field." The lion of Lannister was sewn on his crimson doublet. Golden hair fell upon shoulders in a gleaming mane.  
  
Bold hands fitted against Lyanna's back. The harp leapt into a jaunty number. Lords and ladies thronged the floor. Then everything was a blur of colour, ladies whirling in the pale blues, pinks, and greens of early spring. Her partner’s smile burned like the sun, while Rhaegar's song floated around them, high and untouchable as the moon.  
  
"Robert Baratheon looks like to murder me," the boy remarked after a wordless stretch.  
  
Lyanna hazarded a glimpse at where her intended was sat. His huge hand clutched his flagon in a strangling grip. "We are betrothed, ser," Lyanna explained, suddenly abashed. "I shall be Lady of Storm’s End soon."  
  
The sun-bright head dipped down. Breath skittered across Lyanna's ear. Warmth flowered treacherously in her chest. "I am heir to Casterly Rock," said the boy in a low drawl. "I will be a man grown in a moon's turn. I must take a wife." His hands drew her nearer. “My lord father wishes me to wed Lysa Tully. I've no taste for cold fish. _Marry me_."  
  
Soon the song ended. The boy pulled away. A giddy smile lit his face. "Meet me by the stables tonight."

 

* * *

  
  
Lyanna's lungs were aflame. Mud squelched under her boots as she ran. Rain beat against her helm in muted pings. _Idiot_ , she thought. Challenging the squires was a grave mistake. Worse than her fool’s dance with Jaime Lannister. No one had expected the King to arrive at daybreak. Word was that the Kingsroad was a half-flooded mire.  
  
When she reached a small, sodden grove, she stopped to catch her breath, falling back against the trunk of an oak. Her shield slipped from her fingers. Landed in the muck with a soft _thud_. The weirwood's red grin taunted her.  
  
Hoofbeats sounded a moment later. Lyanna's heart hammered in her chest. She heaved in a sharp, steadying breath. Then the rider was upon her, red cloak trailing behind his white mount, hair plastering his brow like tarnished gold.  
  
"Come with me, my lady," Jaime told her, reaching down with a black-gloved hand.  
  
"I am no lady, you _cur!_ " thundered Lyanna in her knight's voice.  
  
"I know a girl in steel when I see one," Jaime said, a little tartly. "I used to switch places with my sister all the time." His fingers flexed in a beckoning motion. "Now, come. We haven't much time. The King's ordered a search."  
  
Lyanna clambered onto the horse. Her mailed arms circled Jaime's waist. Jaime urged the horse into a brisk gallop. The closeness of his body made Lyanna's heart swoop. He was of an age with her, and yet he was a knight.  
  
"I waited half the night, _she-wolf_ ," Jaime chided once they were in the tangled thick of the wood.  
  
"I can't marry you," Lyanna said, a rueful hitch in her voice. Jaime's golden head wavered as she blinked back tears. "I want to, Jaime. They say Robert has a bastard in the Vale. But Father made the match. I can't defy him."  
  
"The King thinks you an enemy!" Jaime countered hotly. "He means to raise me to the Kingsguard to spite my father." The horse’s hooves tore into the wet earth. "Everyone saw us dance last night, Lyanna. No one will question two young lovers eloping."  
  
They came upon a stone hut beside a swollen brook. Jaime sprung from the horse and held out his hand. Lyanna clasped it in her own, jumping down onto a carpet of rain-soft moss, her old, mismatched armour clanking.  
  
Jewel-green eyes sought Lyanna's. Gentle hands lifted the helmet from head. Then Jaime pressed his lips to hers. The weight lifted from Lyanna's heart. Joy washed through her in a wave. Her hands caught in Jaime's hair.  
  
The septon was dozing when they entered the little hut. Jaime roused from his narrow cot with a few nudges. Soon Lyanna was standing hand-in-hand with him, his crimson, lion-emblazoned cloak draped around her shoulders. Strange gods spilled from her lips one after another. Sealed them together, lion and wolf, man and wife.

 

* * *

  
  
Salt wind grazed Lyanna's face. Boats drifted in and out of the harbour. She'd been watching for half the morning. There was a certain peace, here on the balcony of her chambers, high above the bustle of Lannisport below.  
  
It was almost as if war wasn’t ravaging the realm. The world still breathed its steady breath as always. Dawn came. Her ladies braided her hair and dressed her in a red gown. She took breakfast with her sister-by-law in the main hall. Her cutting japes made her laugh. And, for a while, her heart was less heavy. Casterly Rock was less of a cage.  
  
Stories seldom told of the after. What became of the lady after she rode off with her knight. Her brave, golden lion. Lyanna had never truly been a girl for swooning fancies. She'd loved a silver prince for the span of his song.  
  
"She-wolf," came a deep, drawling voice from across the room.  
  
Lyanna's heart quaked. She turned and rushed toward her husband. He stood a hand taller than she’d seen him last. He was broader of shoulder, and and his jaw was solid and square beneath the thick, gilded scruff of his beard.  
  
"You _idiot_ ," Lyanna cursed, gripping the front of Jaime’s riding coat. "Two years. And our son. _Our son!_ "  
  
Jaime pulled Lyanna against his chest. "I know." The words were raw. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."  
  
Maybe it was a mercy that he had been away at war. That he hadn't seen her screaming in her bloody bed. His armoured bride, his winter wolf with her mouth full of sharp, biting teeth, weeping and broken and useless.  
  
"I rode for three days without rest," Jaime said after a long stretch of silence. "King Aerys is dead. The war is ended." His hands slowly climbed Lyanna's back. "We're to ride for the capital in a moon to see Rhaegar crowned."  
  
Lyanna stepped back. Caught the green gaze. "I'm not waiting for you ever again, Jaime. From now on, your wars are my wars."


End file.
